Black Country, New Road in Warsaw, 23.10

At some point, "Like A Prayer" by Madonna stops playing and the stage grows dim. The audience, and there are many of us on a Monday night in Club Niebo in the centre of Warsaw, becomes very hushed and very vocal all at the some time. This is a classic moment, one we have witnessed a thousand times before. What we absolutely do not expect is to then hear the relentless Eastern riff of "Kashmir". The audience goes 'huh?' and then the music of Led Zeppelin erupts in those theatrical blasts which, among other things, mark the arrival of the musicians. It is a great moment, as clever and unpredictable as it is absolutely hysterical. 

                        photo by Amanda M Hatfield

This is not the only surprise of the show, either. Because as soon as the band rips into the inevitable "Up Song", the audience goes insane. All of a sudden, most of the people start jumping up and down with the sort of passionate vigour I last saw at a Menzingers gig in Dublin more than ten years ago. In fact, this will happen several times during the show, and at some point Charlie Wayne (the drummer) will admit that they had never seen this much movement at their concerts. Polish audience certainly have their own way of doing things. Last year, in Gdańsk, I witnessed them push Nick Cave into performing "The Weeping Song" for the first time during the tour. 

Or maybe it is Black Country, New Road themselves that make the audience go wild? One of the greatest, most powerful and inventive rock bands currently in business. Who lost their vocalist and lyricist last year soon after the release of Ants From Up There (an album destined to be considered a perennial classic in years to come) but who refused to give up. "Look at what we did together, BC,NR friends forever...". They mean it, too.

The songs they do in Warsaw are the same songs they have been doing live since last year. They do not touch the two acclaimed LPs from 2021 and 2022 and instead, rely on songs composed after the sudden departure of Isaac Wood. Basically, what we are getting is this year's Live at Bush Hall with three new songs plus a short improvisation between the "Dancers" and the reprise of "Up Song". But these are incredible songs played with the kind of gusto and charm the band is known for. The musicianship is breathtaking, and the interplay of the violin, the saxophone, the drums, the pianos and the guitars is this never-ending orgasm of crescendos and creative twists. They know what catharsis means. Their songs are nervy but full of substance. 

Of the older material (well, relatively - Live at Bush Hall was released in February this year), I would say the extended piano-based "Turbines / Pigs" is a highlight, beautifully exploring as it does rises and falls, multiple melodies and moods. Of the newer material, both "For The Cold Country" and "Nancy Tries To Take The Night" sound like some of their best and most adventurous work yet. 'Your new album will be fire!' screams someone from the crowd, loudly and with a deliberately bad English accent. They smile, awkwardly, but there is no escaping the fact that it will be exactly that. Because they have the taste and the chops. 

What makes Black Country, New Road so special? What is the source of all this greatness, precisely? Many things. It is the musicianship. The cooky lyrics that have this odd way of speaking to you. The emotional substance (the bassist Tyler Hyde goes teary-eyed as the Polish crowd starts chanting 'BC,NR!' towards the end of the concert). But mostly, and I feel very strongly about this, it is the actual songs. Complex yet appealing. Ecstatic one moment, subdued the next. Adventurous and laden with hooks. After all, how can you leave the show without singing that line of "Dancers"? Or even the long and twisted chorus of "Across the Pond Friend" where the complexity is dwarfed so beautifully by charm?

They leave the stage to the sounds of "Kashmir", and we go full circle. This is a very special band.